“I agree with David. The worst way that could have gone was if the three of you had either tried to help or had gotten separated. That’s when terrible things happen,” Chuck said, to pile on.
“Weren’t you scared when he pointed his gun at you?” Roc asked.
“That did give me pause. I’d be a fool if I said I wasn’t worried. It just happened so fast that I didn’t get a chance to be scared, but if I’d had time to think about it, I would have been. Sometimes you do what you can, and if God decides your number’s up, there’s nothing you can do about it. I believe he still has plans for all of us,” I said seriously.
“Now we have to win State,” Yuri said.
“Can we pray?” Roc asked.
“Absolutely,” I said, and we circled around.
I think we just needed to reassure ourselves that everything was going to be okay.
◊◊◊
We missed morning practice as we had to deal with the police. They were impressed when Fritz was able to provide them with four different bodycam views of the incident. They were able to get the plate numbers off the vans to help them begin their investigation.
Fritz made some phone calls to get more security. He did ask me to make a call of my own.
“Hello,” a woman answered.
“Is this Pia Giovanni?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“This is David Dawson.”
It took her a second to figure out who I was, and then it dawned on her.
“Oh, yes, Tony’s friend. How may I help you?” she asked, sounding much friendlier.
“This morning someone tried to kidnap me in Monterrey, Mexico. I’m here to play for Team USA in a baseball tournament. Later today, my family and friends will be joining me, and I’m more than a little worried about their safety. I’m not sure if you can do anything …”
“Tell me what happened,” she said, suddenly sounding hard.
I could tell this woman was capable. If she was Tony’s go-between, she would have to be. I explained what happened. She wanted copies of the videos and said she would talk to Tony. She thanked me for calling and then hung up on me. I wasn’t sure what I’d just started.
◊◊◊
After we’d dealt with the police, the team returned from practice and joined us in the sandwich shop for lunch. I let the three amigos tell the story. Fritz was pulled away to talk to officials from Team USA. Once we all had food, Coach Kingwood gave us the rundown for the rest of the day.
“Your parents will be here around one. We’ve reserved the Presidencial Ballroom and will have drinks and snacks so everyone can get to know each other.
“You have the afternoon off to do what you want. I want you all to be safe. The incident this morning shows that the unexpected can happen. The local police tell us they’ll have a presence in the area to assure that there won’t be any repeats of this morning’s event.
“I want you all back here by five, and we’ll have an early dinner. Then we’ll load onto the bus at six for our seven-thirty game. We’re kicking off the tournament, so I want you to be on your best behavior and show good sportsmanship,” Coach Kingwood said.
We all returned to eating and just being ballplayers.
◊◊◊
At one, the team was waiting in the ballroom when our parents and friends started to show up. Of course, they had all heard about what happened this morning. Phil was soon surrounded, as he was the only one with visible injuries.
My parents and family were on the second bus to arrive. I dutifully allowed my mom and grandmother to check me out.
“What happened?” Mom demanded.
“We went running. I had Fritz, Chuck, and Paul with us,” I said to assure her I hadn’t gone without security. “Fritz spotted a van following us and gave a warning. There was a second van that popped out of an alley ahead of our group to box us in. When they saw that my security was armed, they sped off. Everyone’s fine.”
I’d warned everyone not to talk about the guns the bad guys had. I’d also made them promise not to tell anyone about my role in the incident. Of course, that was a pipe dream, as Mrs. Pearson and Zoe rushed over.
“I heard you were almost shot,” Zoe blurted. Roc was a dead man.
I love my dad. He stepped in front of my mother before she ended my life. I could hear tidbits of their conversation and became worried when my mom stated I was going home “right now!” My grandmother stepped close to me so we were shielded from my parents, and she pointed at my Grandma Felton, who was holding Nate.
“You’re a genius,” I said and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.
I rushed over.
“How’s my big boy?” I asked.
Nate reached for me, so Grandma Felton handed him to me.
“David!” Mom said, right behind me.
I turned around and smiled.
“Don’t scare the little guy,” I said in triumph.
Poor Nate would be scarred for life. I found myself in the middle of the ballroom as all other conversation stopped to listen to my mother do what she does best. That is, explain how I was a ‘stupid boy’ and how I would be on the next plane back to the States. Nate, bless his soul, howled when Mom began to get loud. Greg, the big chicken, left his son to his own fate. Angie switched to mother-bear mode and rescued him.
I had finally had it.
“Okay, I get it. I’m minding my own business while taking every precaution I know of. Because some criminal decides to come after me, I’m the one who must be punished,” I barked.
“Don’t take that tone of voice with me,” she came back.
Several of my teammates flinched when she said that. Apparently, they’d been in similar situations. I took a deep breath and bit back about five excellent comebacks. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to relax. Then I opened them and looked her right in the eyes.
“I love you. I love that you care enough to protect me. And I realize you’re trying to do what you think is best. I wouldn’t want it any other way,” I said as my chest tightened with emotion.
I think my mom could see I was being sincere and not just trying to placate her. Up to this point, our emotions had been running wild, and my taking a step back made her reconsider her position.
“If anything ever happened to you …” she began, but I wrapped her in my arms to hug her.
Dad took that moment to wrap us both in a hug as well. My allergies must have been acting up to cause my runny nose and watery eyes.
“What did he do?” I heard behind me, and I turned and found Tami, looking annoyed.
That seemed to lighten the mood as I let go of my parents and hugged Tami. I heard someone clear his throat. Not that I cared, but it made me aware that I was making a spectacle of myself in front of everyone.
I looked over Tami’s shoulder and saw she was standing with Mr. and Mrs. Mass, their daughter Harper, and, surprisingly, a smiling Tim and Wolf. What was going on?
“What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going to be at two-a-days.”
“The Mass family decided to come down and, lo and behold, all interns got an end-of-summer bonus check. It was enough to cover the group airfare, food, and hotel room, with a little spending money kicked in,” Wolf explained.
Next, Peggy came in with the boys, followed by Tracy and Pam. Coby wanted his mom, and Little David wanted out of the stroller; I’m sure he didn’t care who freed him. I picked him up, and he giggled. That was exactly what I needed right now.
I began my circuit around the room to meet everyone’s parents with Little David as my helper. The first ones I found were Allard’s. I told them what a fantastic job he’d been doing and then got an invitation I might want to decline.
“When you get a chance, stop up at our room. We brought Allard his favorite thing to eat: jars of pickled bologna and red-hot franks,” his dad announced.